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US-Mexico relations hit bottom over WikiLeaks

Mary Beth Sherdan

WASHINGTON: The Mexican President, Felipe Calderon, has said that the release of US State Department cables criticising Mexico's anti-drug fight had caused ''severe damage'' to its relationship with the United States and suggested tensions had risen so dramatically that he could no longer work with the American ambassador in his country.

Mr Calderon's comments were the strongest to date on the secret cables distributed by WikiLeaks, which have threatened to disrupt what both sides have hailed as increasingly close co-operation against Mexico's violent drug gangs.

Mr Calderon, on a one-day visit to Washington, suggested that the release of the cables had caused turmoil in his national security team. He took exception to one US cable in particular, which said Mexican military officials had ''risk-averse habits''.

''It's difficult if suddenly you are seeing the courage of the army [questioned]. For instance, they have lost probably 300 soldiers … and suddenly somebody in the American embassy, they [say] the Mexican soldiers aren't brave enough,'' he told The Washington Post.

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''Or you decide to play the game that they are not co-ordinated enough and suddenly start to bring information to one agency and not to the other and try to get them to compete.''

Mr Calderon's remark appeared to be a reference to a cable, signed by the US ambassador, Carlos Pascual, that described how the Mexican navy captured a drug trafficker after US officials gave it information that the Mexican army had not acted on.

Asked if he could continue to work with the ambassador, he replied: ''That is a question that maybe I will talk [about] with President Obama.''

After their meeting Barack Obama appeared to make efforts to rebuild bridges, and the two leaders made a public commitment to step up the fight against Mexico's violent drug cartels.

''President Calderon and the Mexican people have shown extraordinary courage in the fight for their country,'' Mr Obama said, referring to the four-year offensive against drug cartels.

''Tens of thousands of Mexicans, innocent citizens and dedicated security forces, have lost their lives. I have reaffirmed to President Calderon that, in this cause, Mexico has a full partner with the United States.''

No announcement was made on the US ambassador.

More than 34,600 people have been killed in drug-related violence since December 2006, when the Mexican government deployed soldiers and federal police to take on the powerful crime gangs.

Pressed earlier if he had lost confidence in the US ambassador, Mr Calderon paused and then said: ''It's difficult to build and it's easy to lose.'' US officials have defended Mr Pascual's work.

If Mr Pascual is recalled, he would be the most prominent US casualty of the WikiLeaks scandal. Only one US ambassador has had to leave the country where he was based because of the cables: Gene Cretz, who took an extended break from Libya before the anti-government demonstrations erupted there.